BRITISH WAR DOGS 



CHAPTER I 



HISTORICAL 



" When wise Ulysses .... 

 Arrived at last, 

 Poor, old, disguised, alone, 



To all his friends and even his queen unknown, 

 The faithful dog alone his master knew. 

 Him, when he saw, he rose and crawled to meet, 

 ('Twas all he could), and fawned and kissed his feet. 

 Seized with dumb joy — 

 Then falling by his side. 

 Owned his returning lord, 

 Looked up, and died." 



Pope. 



THE earliest remains of the dog are found in the 

 Upper Pliocene deposits and at the end of the 

 Tertiary period. There have been five distinct varieties 

 discovered at different times, but the three most important 

 are the canis familiar is palustris, canis familiar is Anutschin 

 and the canis familiaris of the Bronze Age. 



The skull of the first-named represents a smallish dog, 

 and would seem to be the parent of the Chows, Pomeranian 

 and Spitz dogs. The skull of the Bronze Age dog shows 

 a much larger development, and is practically identical 

 with the modern sheep dog. Some dog skulls, which were 

 dug up in Roman remains, closely resemble those of the 



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